{"id":1408,"date":"2010-10-21T22:20:37","date_gmt":"2010-10-22T02:20:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=1408"},"modified":"2010-10-22T01:20:24","modified_gmt":"2010-10-22T05:20:24","slug":"mls-rankings-week-29","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=1408","title":{"rendered":"MLS Rankings: Week 29"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every week the contributors to New England Soccer Today will look beyond just the standings to rank the 16 Major League Soccer (MLS) teams. This week Brian O\u2019Connell and Sean Donahue contributed rankings. Comments are followed by the ranker\u2019s name and the rank they gave that team.<\/em><\/p>\n

1. Real Salt Lake <\/strong>(15-4-10, 55 points) \u2013 Ended Dallas\u2019 19-game unbeaten streak, then beat Cruz Azul in CCL play for good measure. Are we witnessing a dynasty in progress? (Brian \u2013 1) \u2026 FC Dallas was their toughest test in a while, but they passed with an impressive 2-0 victory. (Sean \u2013 1)<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. Seattle Sounders<\/strong> (14-9-6, 48 points) \u2013 The juggernaut continues to leave lesser teams in its wake. Wins against both Chivases (sp?) last week further cements the fact that this is a club to be reckoned with. (Brian \u2013 2) \u2026 Now 10-1-3 since the World Cup. No one will want to see this team come the playoffs. (Sean \u2013 2)<\/strong><\/p>\n

T3. FC Dallas<\/strong> (12-3-14, 50 points) \u2013 Hard to fault a loss against a team like Salt Lake, but maybe \u2013 just maybe \u2013 it\u2019s something they needed before heading into the playoffs. (Brian \u2013 3) \u2026 Unbeaten streak over and Dallas, despite the unbeaten run, has been struggling for victories lately. (Sean \u2013 4)<\/p>\n

T3. Los Angeles Galaxy<\/strong> (17-7-5, 56 points) (+1) \u2013 Dropped a shocker to Colorado at home. Somebody must have forgotten to tell the Gals that they\u2019re in the driver\u2019s seat for the Supporter\u2019s Shield. (Brian \u2013 4) \u2026 Shocking loss to Colorado ends the Galaxy\u2019s four game winning streak. They may be giving the Supporter\u2019s Shield away. (Sean \u2013 3)<\/p>\n

T5. New York Red Bulls<\/strong> (14-9-6, 48 points) \u2013 Another surprising result for another conference leader. Philly took a 2-0 lead into the half, and the Red Bulls never recovered. Likely an anomaly, but you never know as the playoffs approach. (Brian \u2013 5) \u2026 Red Bulls still are struggling to find their top form and time\u2019s running out for them to do so. (Sean \u2013 6)<\/p>\n

T5. Colorado Rapids<\/strong> (12-8-9, 45 points) \u2013 Put up an impressive result against the Galaxy, and hope to carry that momentum with a result against Real this weekend. (Brian \u2013 6) \u2026 Huge win over LA. Cummings and Casey are tough for any team to stop. (Sean \u2013 5)<\/p>\n

7<\/strong>. San Jose Earthquakes <\/strong>(13-9-7, 46 points) (+2) \u2013 Sputtering down the stretch is no way to embark on the postseason. Chris Wondolowski\u2019s going to need some help if the Quakes hope to advance further than the semis. (Brian \u2013 7) \u2026 Big win over Chivas, Some poor form prior, but things may be turning around. (Sean \u2013 7)<\/p>\n

8<\/strong>. Columbus Crew<\/strong> (13-8-8, 47 points) \u2013 A draw to terrible Toronto does little to instill any confidence going into the playoffs. They\u2019ll probably be too tired to go anywhere far come November. (Brian \u2013 8 ) \u2026 It\u2019s hard to have any confidence in the Crew getting past the first round of this year\u2019s playoffs. (Sean -8 )<\/p>\n

9. Philadelphia Union<\/strong> (8-14-7, 31 points) (+1) \u2013 A non-contender that has been on the rise since the late-summer, furthered their M.O. with a solid 2-1 over New York. It\u2019s definitely looking Sunny in Philadelphia. (Brian \u2013 9) \u2026 Expansion side could\u2019ve been in the hunt if they had started off the season better. If they can carry recent form into next year they will be in good shape. (Sean \u2013 9)<\/p>\n

10. New England Revolution <\/strong>(9-15-5, 32 points) (+1)\u2013 Have improved over the last month thanks in large part to improved defending. Will look to finish out the season on a high note against the conference-leading Red Bulls. (Brian \u2013 10) \u2026 Back-to-back wins and much better form since being eliminated from the play-offs.<\/p>\n

11<\/strong>. Kansas City Wizards<\/strong> (10-13-6, 36 points) (-2) \u2013 Eliminated by the Revolution after a hard-fought loss in Foxboro. Showed a lot of fight this season, but it just wasn\u2019t enough in the end. (Brian \u2013 11) \u2026 Just couldn\u2019t get it done down the stretch. Lost too many games against teams they should\u2019ve beat (Sean -11)<\/p>\n

T12. Toronto FC <\/strong>(8-13-8, 32 points) \u2013 Apparently, there\u2019s still something to play for this season, as they drew a lethargic Crew. Next season may mirror 2010 unless the front office is properly addressed. (Brian \u2013 12) \u2026 Drew against the underperforming Crew, but should have take 3 points if not for lack of discipline and poor defending at the end. (Sean \u2013 13)<\/p>\n

T12. Houston Dynamo<\/strong> (8-15-6, 30 points) (+2) \u2013 Claimed an encouraging 1-0 victory over their playoff-bound former namesake. Like the Revs, just looking to finish out the year strong. (Brian \u2013 13) \u2026 Disappointing season, but a good win over San Jose is something positive to end the season. (Sean \u2013 12)<\/p>\n

14. Chicago Fire (<\/strong>8-12-9, 33 points) (-2) \u2013 Brian McBride bows before the Bridgeview supporters after a disappointing 0-0 draw to DC United. It\u2019s been that kind of year for the Fire. (Brian \u2013 14) \u2026 I\u2019ve said it before, but there is way too much talent on the Fire squad for them to be this bad. (Sean \u2013 14)<\/p>\n

15. Chivas USA<\/strong> (8-17-4, 28 points) \u2013 Single-handedly pummeled by the aforementioned Wondolowski only proves that the defending is going to need a lot of help this offseason. (Brian \u2013 15) \u2026 Already had their one good performance of the month, so no one should have expected anything less than a loss against San Jose. (Sean \u2013 15)<\/p>\n

16. D.C. United<\/strong> (6-19-4, 22 points) \u2013 A draw is better than another loss. Closing out the season with a win against Toronto would not only be encouraging, but completely possible against the most disenchanted club in the land. (Brian \u2013 16) \u2026 How far the mighty have fallen. A draw between DC and Chicago, two former champions who have done nothing but disappoint this season. (Sean \u2013 16)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Real Salt Lake lead our rankings for the 5th week in a row.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":723,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/rslfeature.jpg?fit=490%2C225&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1408"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1408"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1410,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1408\/revisions\/1410"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}